Decision makers

Quit the Chamber of Commerce

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is at the forefront of efforts to pass the Internet Censorship Act, which fundamentally threatens the internet as we know it.

If the bill passes, corporate copyright holders would be able to demand the government shut down a website based on nothing more than an allegation that the website contains copyrighted material. And the government could do this even without a court order.

The free speech implications of this kind of extra-judicial government censorship of the internet is chilling. It's nothing short of an outright attack on our free internet.

Google, which is strongly opposed to the Internet Censorship Act and has an unofficial motto of "Don't be evil," is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. But the Chamber's all-out support of this incredibly dangerous legislation has reportedly caused Google to consider quitting the rightwing organization in protest.

Tell Google: Quit the Chamber of Commerce.

If Google leaves the Chamber, it will further reveal that the Chamber is nothing more than a front group for a small handful of wealthy corporate special interests. And this will further chip away at the Chamber's grandiose claim to broadly represent the interests of the American business community.

We've already seen a number of big corporations including Yahoo and Apple leave the Chamber, and it's a very big deal that Google is reportedly considering the same thing right now.

This is a case where the business interests of Google align with the needs of all of us who depend on the free and open internet.

Tell Google: Quit the Chamber of Commerce.

Progressives have any number of reasons to want to see the influence of the Chamber of Commerce diminish.

As the election season heats up, we'll almost certainly see the Chamber run vicious smear campaigns against people running against any number of rightwing extremists.

But more fundamentally, whether it's shilling for Big Oil or the tobacco companies or media giants, the Chamber is the poster child for how wealthy corporate money corrupts our system of government.

We have a chance now to help Google to do the right thing and quit the Chamber. Now's the time to speak out. Tell Google: Quit the Chamber of Commerce.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is at the forefront of efforts to pass the Internet Censorship Act, which is nothing short of an outright attack on our free internet. Google should quit the Chamber in protest.